Top Picks From the St Ali Italian Film Festival

Italy is a country of striking contrasts, with every region offering its own landscapes, traditions and way of life. This year’s St Ali Italian Film Festival celebrates that diversity on screen, with a program of films rooted in regions spanning the whole country. Audiences are invited to immerse themselves in the food of Sicily, Sardinia’s stories of identity and belonging, the glamour of Milan and the timeless beauty of Tuscany and Lazio. More than a collection of films, it’s an invitation to travel through Italy – one story, and one region, at a time.

We’ve put together a guide to some of the festival’s standout films, organised by region, to help you find your next Italian cinematic fix.

Sicily

Famous for its spectacular Mediterranean coastline, smouldering volcanoes, diverse cuisine and some of Italy’s best wines, Sicily is a place where Greek, Arab and Norman influences have left their mark.

It’s also the birthplace and spiritual home of the cannoli – making it the perfect setting for Holy Cannoli, the witty romantic comedy from beloved Italian satirist Pierfrancesco “Pif” Diliberto. Adapted from his bestselling novel, the film follows lovelorn real estate agent Arturo, whose passion for Palermo pastries is rivalled only by his sudden infatuation with Flora, a devout Catholic. In his quest to win her heart, Arturo finds an unlikely spiritual advisor: the Pope. 

A very different side of Sicily emerges in Sweetheart, the award-winning feature debut of writer-director Margherita Spampinato. When 11-year-old tech-dependent Nico is sent to spend the summer with his grumpy elderly aunt Zia Gela, he finds himself in a world without wi-fi, where ancient traditions, superstition and religious faith still hold sway. As their worlds collide, Nico is drawn into the mysteries of his aunt’s home, uncovering secrets that turn a reluctant summer into an incredible adventure.

Sardinia

Against a backdrop of turquoise waters, rugged landscapes and mysterious Bronze Age stone towers, Sardinia is a place where ancient customs and remarkably long lifespans go hand in hand.

Life Is Life takes audiences to the region’s rugged southern coast, where the  traditional way of life comes up against the modern property industry. Efisio, a shepherd who has spent his entire life on the land where he was born, wants nothing more than to preserve his home and the history it represents. But when Milanese developer Giacomo sets his sights on the coastline for a luxury resort, Efisio comes under increasing pressure to sell. 

Sardinia is also the birthplace of author Grazia Deledda, one of only nine female writers who won the Nobel Prize in Literature during the twentieth century – and the only Italian woman to this day. Based on a novel by Marcello Fois, the poetic biopic Almost Grazia follows three pivotal moments in Deledda’s life: the unexpected arrival of her mother from Nuoro, the hours before her historic Nobel Prize win, and the moment her doctor delivers a devastating diagnosis. 

Lombardy

Italy’s northern powerhouse, Lombardy, stretches from the fashion houses and design studios of Milan to glittering lakes and alpine foothills, combining old-world elegance with a distinctly modern edge.

Milan’s reputation as a fashion powerhouse is explored in Armani and the Birth of Italian Fashion, a star-studded documentary charting the designers and family-run houses that transformed Italian style into a global phenomenon. Featuring Giorgio Armani in his final on-screen interview, alongside insights from Sharon Stone, Tom Ford, Helen Mirren and Samuel L Jackson, the film offers a glimpse into Milan’s glamorous ateliers, runways and private fashion worlds, while revealing how Italian design became entwined with Hollywood glamour.

Tuscany

From Florence’s Renaissance masterpieces to Chianti’s vineyard-covered hills and the cypress-lined roads of the countryside, Tuscany has become almost synonymous with the Italy of art, food, wine and la dolce vita.

Tuscany’s sun-drenched beauty provided some of the filming locations for the provocative erotic thriller The Eyes of Others. Loosely inspired by sensational true events in 1960s Italy, the film follows enigmatic Elena as she arrives on the private island estate of a wealthy marquis, sparking an intense affair. In the heat of the Italian summer, surrounded by decadent excess, their affair becomes a dangerous entanglement of sex, power and violence. Blending the style of 1960s Italian cinema with contemporary themes, the film offers a seductive yet unsettling portrait of passion and privilege.

Lazio

Home to Rome and the heart of ancient Italy, Lazio blends monumental history and artistic heritage with a vibrant contemporary culture. 

The biting ensemble dramedy Show Me the Truth takes audiences inside the world of Rome’s elite, where the affluent Moretti family agrees to participate in Fuori la Verita, a new game show offering a prize of one million euro. There is only one rule: answer always and only with the truth. However, tensions soon rise as every answer conceals a lie, while the show’s ruthless host and production team are determined to push the game’s limits for the sake of ratings.

In a very different Rome, Classmates stars Anna Ferzetti as a determined English teacher assigned to a challenging high school in the Rebibbia neighbourhood. Her colleagues have given up on her class, a group of troubled and reluctant teenagers dealing with fractured families, first relationships and late-night misadventures. Convinced of the transformative power of education, their teacher refuses to write them off, setting out to earn their trust and make a lasting difference to their education and futures.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Palace Cinemas. Explore the full St Ali Italian Film Festival program here.